Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards announces finalists for Best in Class Dining categories!

With four dining categories this year in the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drinks Awards, judges have been busy short-listing food and drink businesses from around the county in Booker Gastro Pub of the Year sponsored by Booker, Community Café of the Year sponsored by Public Health, West Northants Council and supported by The Good Loaf, Restaurant of the Year sponsored by The Greedy Gordon pub group and World Cuisine Restaurant of the Year sponsored by British Pepper and Spice. After final Mystery Shopping visits the winners will be announced in the annual Awards ceremony held in November.

Founder Rachel Mallows MBE DL said “We are delighted to have new and existing sponsors to help us to recognise so many of the varied eateries in our county. It’s still tough out there, so it is only right that we can show them some support by giving them the recognition they deserve and encouraging more people to visit them.”

Community Café of the Year which is supported by The Good Loaf is delighted to have a new sponsor in Public Health, West Northants Council. The Community Café category is all about recognising coffee shops that are exceptional, not simply for their produce, but also as stand-out establishments that contribute significantly to their local communities.

Adrian Hornigold, Catering Development Manager from Booker said “We are delighted to be supporting the Gastro Pub of the Year category. It is amazing to see the resilience, creativity and excellent mystery shopping feedback for our hardworking pubs across the county”.

Ian Kelland, Managing Director of World Cuisine Restaurant of the Year category sponsor, British Pepper & Spice commented “This is a great category for us. The originality and quality of the menus and the talent of their remarkable chefs is really noticeable this year. As in previous years, it is a difficult decision to select the individual winners from such a strong field”.

Finalists for the Booker Gastro Pub of the Year are:

The Kings Arms – Polebrook

The Old Talbot - Potterspury

The Rose & Crown – Yardley Hastings

The Sheaf – West Haddon

The Tollemache Arms - Harrington

Finalists for the Community Café of the Year are as follows:

Bennett’s – Thrapston

Bob’s Corby – Corby

Happy Mondays – Rushden

Lavender Bee Tea Room – Kettering

Polo Pavilion Tea Rooms – Winwick

The Place to Bee - Kingsthorpe

Finalists for Restaurant of the Year are:

Hopping Hare- Northampton

Karmana- Northampton

Marseille- Northampton

Murrays- Whittlebury Park, Towcester

Tap and Kitchen- Oundle

The Palmichael- Burton Latimer

Finalists for World Cuisine Restaurant of the Year are:

June Plum- Wellingborough

Little India- Earls Barton

Marmaris- Northampton

Mexican Fire Garden- Kettering

Voujon- Long Buckby

On 1st November, the accomplishments and successes of Northamptonshire Food and Drink businesses and individuals will be celebrated at the Gala Dinner at the Royal & Derngate.

To keep up to date with the latest news, please follow the Awards on Facebook at @foodawards or Twitter and Instagram at @foodawardsHQ or on LinkedIn at @weetabixnfadawards using the hashtag #WFDA23.